Dr. Mark Collins of Dublin is about to accomplish that feat, plus run a marathon on each — all
within 18 months.

Collins, 53, left Punta Arenas, Chile, today on a chartered flight to Antarctica, where on
Wednesday he will run the Ice Marathon, the southernmost race (by more than 1,200 miles) in the
world.

“The pressure is on to finish,” said Collins, an OhioHealth urgent-care physician. “People are
motivated by passion, not indifferences. I just thought I would go for it.”

If he completes the race, Collins — a marathoner since 2009 — will join fewer than 500 people
who have run 26.2 miles on each continent, said Scott Guillemette, manager of Marathon Tours &
Travel, which oversees the Seven Continents Club.

The club, one of several groups that track continental marathoners worldwide, counts 406
finishers, with each of their races having been sanctioned by the group.

Collins, a divorced father of two grown children, began pursuing the goal in the summer of 2012,
after he met a woman during the Mt. Kilimanjaro Marathon in Tanzania who was striving to do the
same.

That race became the first of his seven.

The pursuit, he said, has allowed him to combine two key passions: running and traveling.

Among other adventures, he has encountered kangaroos in New South Wales (Australia), made
friends with village runners in Peru (South America) and completed a nighttime marathon in
Singapore (Asia).

He has also come across his share of challenges, requiring that he sleep on an airport floor a
time or two, communicate with non-English-speaking cabdrivers and rely on native cuisine —
especially important before races.

Time off from work has been tough, too, but the costs of the trips haven’t been as high as he
expected.

With the exception of the Antarctic race — on which he’ll spend more than $10,000, he said — his
travels have proved relatively affordable, he said.

The Ice Marathon, one of just two marathons in Antarctica sanctioned by the Seven Continents
Club, might be the most physically challenging.

The terrain is entirely snow-covered, race organizer Richard Donovan said by email.

Though not deep, the snow — and, in some spots, ice — is energy-sapping, he said.

With race-time temperatures probably between zero and 25 degrees, and strong winds an even
bigger concern, Collins left Columbus equipped with much-warmer running gear — including a
cold-weather running coat
, a face mask and running shoes a half-size larger (to accommodate multiple layers
of socks).

To prevent windburn, he said, he will smear petroleum jelly on the exposed parts of his
face.

The isolated nature of the Ice Marathon calls for certain protocols.

“You have to run with a whistle,” Collins said. “They check the course for crevasses. You have
to have medical-evacuation insurance.”

The dangers aside, he hopes to wrap up the run in about four hours and compete within the field
of 50 runners. (About 20 percent are expected to be working on their seventh continent, Donovan
said.)

Regardless of his time, Collins said, the trip represents “the opportunity of a lifetime.”

“I’m way more excited than anxious. I’m most excited about the adventure.”